The Golden Lycans (Ella) novel Chapter 73

< Eighteen

Eighteen

*Ella***

“Good morning sleeping beauty!” Freya says gleefully from across the room.

I turn over to face her, a big smile on my face.

“Big day ahead,” I reply, yawning a little.

“Well get up girl, we need to go meet my mum in half an hour,” Freya says, sitting up herself.

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I lay there for a few minutes, butterflies firmly settling in as I consider what this evening will bring.

Once we are ready, we make our way downstairs to the atrium where Freya’s mum is waiting for

“Well, I hope you’re both ready for a girly day?” she says warmly.

“Good morning Mrs Landry,” I say a little stiffly, wondering how to properly interact with a woman who has no idea what I am or indeed who I am to her son.

“Please Ella, call me Dana,” she says, looking at me in an oddly fond way.

“Where is dad?” Freya asks as we head to the doors.

“Where do you think?” she replies to Freya in a dejected tone.

“Making Austin wish it weren’t his eighteenth birthday today, I’d guess. Somehow managing to suck the fun out of his big day?” Freya remarks in a sarcastically bright voice.

“I can only hope that tonight goes well,” Dana says as we arrive at a large and imposing looking SUV in the car park.

“Oh, I have a feeling it will,” Freya replies, smirking at me as we get into the car.

“Wait, is Annabelle not coming?” I ask Freya.

“No, she’s got some big essay due and she’s left it a bit late. Like it was due Thursday,” Freya replies before turning to Dana, “so, where are we going, mum?”

“Well….I’ve not got your brother a gift yet,” Dana says, leaning forward to check it was safe to exit, before heading a different way out of the gates than I had been before.

“Mum!” Freya laughs.

“It’s fine, I know exactly what I’m going to get him, I just need to pick it up. But, I need to get it enchanted,” Dana assures her.

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After twenty minutes or so, we come to a pretty little village with cobbled streets and quaint little shops.

Dana parks the car and we get out.

“First, an essential,” she announces, striding ahead toward a coffee shop. We sit down with three coffees and a few croissants.

“Well, Ella, it’s nice to finally meet the girl who got my son’s knickers in a great big twist,” she says

casually with a smile on her face. I look back at her stupidly.

“Mum is probably referring to you leaving him in the dust when you first met,” Freya explains, “I can’t

say he’s ever going to forget it, or get over it.”

“Ohhh…that,” I reply, feeling relieved Dana didn’t know anything more.

“No…I know you went on a date,” she says quietly.

“Aus told you?” Freya exclaims in surprise. Dana laughs and she looks at Freya fondly.

“Austin tells me most things, particularly things he’d never tell your father…such as going on a date, particularly with a human girl,” Dana said, sipping her coffee. My heart beats faster unexpectedly, I am not sure how Dana was expecting me to respond to this

“What did he say?” I ask tentatively. Dana smiles a knowing smile and looked into my eyes for an awkward amount of time. But she doesn’t respond to my question.

“Well, today is for us ladies, as it’s rare we get to dress up in our finery and look our best.”

“You know, except from November and every other school formal,” Freya jokes to me, dipping

pastry in her coffee.

“Yes, well I’m a bit busy at the pack these days to attend winter formals! Have you got a dress picked out, Ella?” Dana asks me, her eyes narrowed a little.

“She has and it’s amazing,” Freya interjects.nDana c****d a brow at me.

“May I see it?” she asks. I have the strangest impression she isn’t merely asking out of generally curiosity, but instead on behalf of Austin. I get my phone out of my pocket and I show her a photo that my mum had taken of me trying the dress on in Harrods. She exhales loudly and takes my phone into her hands, zooming in on various parts of the photo.

“That is…exquisite. It reminds me of a Jenny Packham,” she mutters, still looking intently at it.

“It…is,” I reply.

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“My goodness, that must’ve cost a small fortune,” Dana says with shock.

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“It was on sale and my parents are quite wealthy due to their jobs, my mum wanted me to have a bithday present. I saw it and I just knew… you know, that I… wanted it. For whatever purpose,” I reply, almost giving myself away to Austin’s mother. She looks at me with another knowing look and hands back my phone.

“Excellent, well now we just need to get Austin’s gift and then it’s time for some pampering,” Dana replies happily.

Once we are done in the coffee shop, we go into a jewellers a few shops down.

Dana heads straight to a display case on the right.

“There, that’s it,” she whispers to Freya, pointing into the case. I extend my neck to see what they are looking at. It is a white gold crescent moon charm on a long white gold chain. Attached to the moon charm was a small gold star with an emerald in the middle.

“Ooh that’s very symbolic, I think he will love that. Not that he’d know what Emeralds represent,” Freya remarks with a chuckle.

I look at the other necklaces in the display cabinet, unconsciously putting my hand to where my necklace used to sit. I felt so bare without it. I did miss having something there, regardless of what it had been doing to me all that time.

I wait outside the shop for them both, making the most of the brief moment of sunshine before the

clouds rolled back in.

“Now we just need some lunch and then…nails and hair!” Dana says cheerfully, linking her arm into

Freya’s.

Two hours later I am watching a woman efficiently filing my nails before applying acrylic to them. I’d shown her a picture of my dress and she had suggested a pearl base with white sparkly tips, and I thought that sounded perfect. I could probably get away with wearing them during classes

for a little while, too.

I tune into the conversation Freya is having with her Mum.

“…she’s just hoping Ollie finds someone soon so he stops galavanting around the school,” Dana sighs. Freya scoffed at her mother.

“Mum, Ollie is doing what almost every other guy his age and rank are doing,” Freya replies with an eye-roll.

“It lacks class, imagine if you discovered your mate was someone who had multiple dalliances around the school?” Dana asks Freya.

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“To be honest mum? Austin is on his own in how he is. I know that’s what they’re like, when they’re alphas or betas. I’m likely to be mated to a high rank, so actually… it’s not outside the realm of possibility, Freya shrugs, “it’s not great…but I’ve accepted that fact. You should too.”

“Well, it’s dreadful. Men were more respectful back in my day,” Dana sniffs. Freya laughs loudly.

“No, mum, I think people are just more open about it these days,” she says, sighing at her mother’s

ignorance.

***Austin***

I readjust the collar of the crisp white shirt in the mirror one more time.

“I just don’t like these sort of clothes,” I mutter, shifting my neck this way and that against the heavily starched collar.

“It’s one night Austin; stop complaining,” Dad remarks bluntly.

I had thought it was a bit short notice to be doing this, but at least the fit would be perfect. I take the shirt off and hand it back to the tailor.

“It’s great, thank you, sir,” I say politely.

“I’ll try and soften the collar up a bit,” the man says with a little wink. I shoot him a thankful smile.

“Now, just go over it all again for me so I know you’re clear on formal protocol,” Dad says.

“Be in the atrium at six thirty. Greet all guests personally, shake the hands of the men and…kiss the hands of the women,” I begin. I felt the hand kissing was too old school, but dad had vehemently argued his point on that yesterday.

“Bow to alpha Sebastian and his son Marcus from Dalston Lake. Ollie’s task for the evening is to ensure that he keep the members of Crescent Falls and Emerald Tides away from each other as they have recently had altercations.”

“….and, if you do sense your mate?” Dad asks quietly. I exhale and smile.

“Seek her out after dinner in the proper manner,” I say with a deep breath, wondering what that even

was.

“Anything else you think you should do?” Dad asks. I knew he was testing me, trying to see if I had been paying attention to him yesterday.

“Ask the ladies from the bigger packs to dance,” I reply, “should be roughly three of them, I recall.” “Good,” Dad said, sounding satisfied, “now, it’s all just a couple of hours away, so I think you’ve

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